


The Past is in the Past

by Bethania_Nathaniel



Category: Doctor Who, Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (2013), Torchwood
Genre: M/M, Post-End of Time Part Two, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 14:17:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1350457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethania_Nathaniel/pseuds/Bethania_Nathaniel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Jack spots a well-known light across the bay at Gatsby's house. A snapshot of Jack as he tries to move on from the Doctor. I own nothing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Past is in the Past

Captain Jack Harkness stood on the pier, staring out at the green light, shimmering in the darkness across the bay. He heard the footsteps coming down towards him, crushing the freshly-mown grass.

“Why are you hiding out here? Normally the life and soul of the party, you are.” Jay Gatsby said gaily, offering him a flute of champagne. Jack took it and drained it in a gulp, his eyes unmoving.

“Whatever’s the matter, old sport? Tell me.” Jay reached for Jack’s shoulder, gripping it reassuringly with his hand. Jack exhaled slowly, looking back at Gatsby.

“I think it’s the same for both of us, don’t you?” Jack smirked slightly, out of habit. “We both can see it....time stretched away, across the bay...”

“That’s quite good, actually.”

“Why, thank you!” They both laughed for a moment, their voices echoing across the water. Jay hesitated, unsure how to ask the obvious question.

“I think you know...you know about me, but who...I mean, for you...”

Jack smiled and wrapped his arm tightly around Jay’s back.

“That light?” he said, pointing with his glass-laden hand across the water. “Listen to it.”

The faint chirps of cicadas died away as a slight whirring noise floated towards them. Jay squinted at the light.

“What in damnation is that?”

“That’s no light,” Jack said. “It’s called a sonic screwdriver. It’s a sort of gizmo thing that my friend uses, which means that that’s him. Over there, across the bay.”

“But who is he?”

“Someone I knew a very long time ago,” Jack replied, his unsaid answers hanging in the air. _Someone that I trusted. Someone that I loved._  

Jay’s enthusiastic slap on his shoulder brought him back.

“Jack, this is perfect! Why, Daisy’s the same for me. Exactly the same. We can go meet them, right there, go beyond the light!” His eyes had an obsessive gleam, reflecting the green tint of the faraway light.

Jack shook his head.

“I can never reach him. He’s lost to me now.”

“Oh, come now!” Jay was starting to get angry. “Do this! Do this for me!”

“I can’t.” Jack’s voice was direct, cutting through Jay’s fury. He stared straight into Jay’s eyes, hard and unflinching. “He’s changed. He’s not my friend any more than she’s your Daisy. And you know it.”

Jay grabbed Jack by his shoulders, dropping his glass. “To hell with you, Jack! All I want is to go to her, and love her, just like back then! If we go now, we can live with them forever. Just like the good old days. We will never die. Don’t you want that?”

Jack began to laugh.

 _“You can’t repeat the past, Jay,”_ he said mockingly.

“Can’t repeat the past? Why, of course we can!”

Jack laughed even harder. The maniacal sound frightened away the birds overhead.

“I need a distraction,” he said, grabbing Jay’s hair and thrusting his tongue into Jay’s mouth. The distant murmurings of jazz and the warmth of their arms, entwined and roving each other in the evening breeze, helped to drive away the whirring sound until the green light blinked and disappeared into the void.


End file.
